Wall Street mixed ahead of Alphabet and Tesla earnings, Super Micro climbs 22.4%, AT&T gains 3.8%

Wall Street's major stock indexes traded on a mixed note on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of earnings from major technology companies while monitoring a fresh surge in crude oil prices amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran in the Middle East.

At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.09 points, or 0.46%, to 52,462.73, the S&P 500 gained 2.28 points, or 0.03%, to 7,511.48 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 65.06 points, or 0.25%, to 25,772.14.

At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.5 points, or 0.12%, to 52287.14. The S&P 500 fell 11.7 points, or 0.16%, to 7497.47​, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 143.5 points, or 0.56%, to 25693.719.

Market participants are closely watching second-quarter earnings from Alphabet and Tesla, the first batch of the "Magnificent Seven" technology giants to report results after the closing bell. Investors are looking for signs that the companies' massive investments in artificial intelligence are beginning to generate meaningful financial returns.

Meanwhile, oil prices climbed to their highest levels in nearly six weeks after the US military reportedly carried out strikes on Iran's Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying concerns over potential disruptions to global energy supplies. On Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also faced questions in Congress regarding the administration's request for tens of billions of dollars in additional funding linked to the conflict with Iran.

The Brent Crude oil rose 3.1% to $93.83. Earlier in the session, it briefly topped $95 per barrel.

"Festering concerns that the US-Iran standoff is at risk of heating up further, as opposed to cooling off appreciably soon, are behind the spike in oil prices," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, who described the latest rise in oil prices as a factor in the "defensive-minded turn" in equities.

In the fixed-income segment, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.65% from 4.63% on Tuesday.

Key Stock Movers

• AMD shares rose 0.7% after the semiconductor company announced plans to invest up to $5 billion in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
• Texas Instruments slipped 0.3% as investors awaited the chipmaker's quarterly earnings announcement later in the day.
• AT&T gained 3.8% after the telecommunications company reported stronger-than-expected additions of wireless subscribers.

Super Micro Computer surged 22.4% after the AI server manufacturer disclosed that it had secured more than $60 billion in new orders for the fourth quarter, boosting investor optimism over continued demand for AI infrastructure.

Bullion

Gold prices rose on Wednesday, buoyed by a weaker US dollar and buying demand.

By 08:32 a.m EDT (1232 GMT), spot gold gained 1.3% to $4,130.59 per ounce. US gold futures for August delivery rose 1.5% to $4,135.40.

Among other metals, spot silver rose 1.1% to $59.4 per ounce, platinum gained 1.1% to $1,647.17 and palladium inched up 2.9% to $1,319.74.